


Rootlessness

by lilmissmaya



Series: Fuss and Bother [2]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime)
Genre: By popular demand, Feelings, Gen, Relationship Development, Romantic Comedy, fluff?, graphic depiction of house building, things that would be spoilers if I tagged them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-02-29 04:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilmissmaya/pseuds/lilmissmaya
Summary: building a house together would be a new adventure, snufkin had thought. it didn't mean he was obligated to stay forever... but maybe having some roots wouldn't be a bad thing.sequel to Basic Access! (ie, the continuing adventures of two dumb boys who don't know they are in a romantic comedy)





	1. good foundations

Spring was back to Moomin Valley, and all was back to normal. 

Well, as normal as any place could be, with magic hobgoblin hats, sudden floods that carry houses off, and the Groke could be. Alas, we are getting off track. 

Spring was back to Moomin Valley. The snow was melting, the streams ran full and water meadows glistened with wet. The small spring flowers were taking their chance, poking up through the leaf litter and snow to show their faces to the sun. 

Snufkin had moved out of Moomin’s room to his tent, setting up camp next to the house as a compromise. The hillside was drier, where the hollows still kept the damp and chill. Recovering as he was, it let him has his space from the family, without risking a relapse in illness. 

At least that was the excuse. No matter how much he loved them, he just needed to be out of the house. But… not too far away. 

He was getting better, but it was annoying slow. The fevers were gone, and he only coughed if he went too fast or too hard. He got tired much too easily, but he figured that his endurance would return once his appetite did. Worrying wouldn’t fix the problem, so he did his best not to. Not when the sun was warm, and there was a porch to nap on. 

He opened his eyes as his shoulder was nudged, moomin was crouched next to him with the look he got when he had something he was bursting to say.  
“Snuuuuuufkin-”

“I’m awake. What’s up?”

“I found it!” he wiggled in excitement. “I found the best place to build a house! You want to come see?” the words ran together in his delight.

“A place for the house?” he repeated. Moomin nodded, fairly vibrating. “Alright then, let’s go see it.”

Moomin held his hand tightly, and snufkin accepted this. He’d become a bit… clingy lately. But after all that happened he’d come to understand it. You nearly die on your friend’s doorstep once, and forevermore they were worried you’d attempt to encore performance. Once moomin was more sure that Snufkin wasn’t just going to keel over at any moment (to be fair he had done that a few times this winter) he’d be fine. They would be fine. 

It was a nice spot, a hill or two away from the Moomin House. The stream ran at the bottom, good for fishing, and there was already a smooth expanse of rock that would make a good foundation. You could hardly see the spot from the path thanks to the trees, and no other houses in sight. It was private.  
Internally he sighed in relief. 

“Do you like it?” snufkin glanced at him with his eyebrows raised and moomin repeated the question.

“I don’t think there’s a better spot for a house in the valley, Moomin.”

“And, and!” he turned to point down the hill. “The beach is that way, not too far! We can build a path and go fishing, or visit too-ticky or swim-”

“So… what do we do first when we build a house?” Snufkin looked around, trying to get an idea for size.

“I’m not sure, but papa will know. He build out house and the bridge too! He’s good at that sort of stuff.” moomin joined him, pacing out space with short strides. “We don’t have to build it big at first.”

“No, just what we need.” he dug around in his pockets and found a stub of chalk, offering it to moomin. 

“A kitchen and living room.” moomin drew a line on the stone. “Bed room. Watercloset and a bath. A good sized porch for you-” he ducked his head shyly and snufkin missed the rest of his words. But there was an oddly warm feeling in his chest. 

“And fruit trees.” he pulled his hat down, just in case he was blushing. “Blackberries and soft fruit.”

“That’s a good idea! I guess I should ask momma how to make jam.”

“What about the others…”

“Hm?” he looked conflicted, the moomin house was often full of friends. He must have decided on something, hands on his round hips. “No, this is just a house for you and me right now.”

He let go of tension he didn’t realize he held. “Good.”

Moomin beamed. “Let’s go talk to papa and see what we need to get.”

For all his flakiness (moominmamma called it his “artistic temperament.”) moominpapa took the business of building things very seriously. The first order of business was to get the materials and make the plan. Moomin’s friends were all recruited and sat in a line while papa addressed them, a general to his troops. 

“The first thing every good house needs in a strong foundation.” he lectured, pacing in front of them. The Snork listened, enraptured. Sniff was already losing interest, following a juicy-looking beetle and pondering if it’d make a good snack. Snorkmaiden found some flowers and started making a flower crown for her hair, and Little My supervised from the tallest position she could.

“Moomin has found a good place to build, but we’ll need river-stone for the foundation and wood for the frame. I’m going to send you all to the stream and the beach to gather stone while I get the lumber and nails up here.”

 

Snufkin rolled up the legs of his pants, down to his shirt sleeves and braces. The sun was very warm, but the stream water was still icy from the snowmelt. He shivered a little wading into the stream, but it still felt good. 

“So what kind of stones are we looking for?” snorkmaiden eyed the water for a moment before stepping in. she squealed, wiggling. “It’s cold!”

“Big round ones.” moomin was poking around, rolling likely ones onto the stream bank. “Like the ones around our house.”

“Oh.” she kicked around for a bit, the adventure starting to wear thin. “Do you you’re building the house too small? I mean, where are our kids going to sleep?”

Snufkin could see moomin’s eyes grow wide. “Well.. you know… build on.” he looked up, met snufkin’s eyes and quickly looked away, pushing another rock onto the streamside. “Later.”

“Oh moomintroll! You’re so silly! Being shy about things.” she tackled him into the water, having completely lost interest. “I guess it is smart to start small, with just a little house. But not for too long.” she giggled. “Let’s paint the kitchen yellow-”

Snufkin stepped out of the stream, quickly walking away. Childish, yes, but there was suddenly too many people near him and he needed space. 

“Snufkin!” he heard faintly behind him. “Momma’s making spaghetti for supper!”

He raised a hand, acknowledging that he heard him. He left his boots and coat behind, it was warm enough he didn’t need them. 

The tightness in his chest relaxed once he got to the beach, the warmer ocean water lapping around his feet. Was he… jealous? Annoyed? Funny, he felt empty and lonely. Maybe he was getting sick again and that’s why he was feeling this way. He had no claim to Moomin’s feelings and no right to tell him who could be his friends or what to do with his life. 

(no matter that moomin had told him it was /their/ house, and their house alone.)

He’d rather stop thinking about it, so he did. The ocean had a rhythm, and he hummed along, finding this and that in the sand that they may use for the house or for moominmamma’s garden. He’d almost completely forgotten about it when something knocked his hat off.

Little My stood on a boulder, rock in one hand, a rather large isopod wiggling in the other. “Hey, I’ve been yelling at you! Are you going deaf?”

“I didn’t hear you, you being so little and all.” he ducked the rock she aimed at his head.

“Watch it pal.” she hopped off, striding towards him as he shook the sand off his hat. “So what are you sulking about now?”

“I’m just walking on the beach.”

“Is it because that girl is hanging over moomin and you don’t have him all to yourself now?”

“No such thing.” he began walking again, she had to scramble to catch up to his longer stride.

“oooOOOooo you ARE jealous.” she grinned. 

“There was too many people, and I needed some space.”

“You keep telling yourself that. Do you want me to shave her tail?”

“No!”

“Well, the offer is there. Come on Dobbins-” she addressed the isopod under her arm. “-let’s go hunting!”

How insulting. He wasn’t… okay, yes he was. He was jealous. But he was a mature adult and could handle it in a mature, adult manner.  
Now if he knew what a mature adult manner was…. 

 

Suppertime at the moomin house was a crowded affair, and although he tried not to show it, snufkin’s nerves were on edge. Sniff had invited himself, as he was never one to turn down a meal, and the snorks came too. Moomin looked uncomfortable, scooting away from her, and snufkin tried not to feel pleased. (Mature adult manner after all.) he would not smack her for talking about how she was going to arrange the furniture and what to plant, as if she was living there already. 

As soon as it was polite, he excused himself to the porch, to indulge in his pipe and tinker with the guitar he found on the beach. (it was a little warped from the saltwater, missing a couple of strings, but he kind of liked the odd sound he got from it.) it was better than being trapped in there with… whatever was going on here between him, moomin and the Snorkmaiden. 

It wasn’t only snufkin who’s nerves were wearing thin. She was his friend, a good friend and playmate but without permission from his brain- “you’re not moving into the house.”

She froze, not comprehending his words. 

Oh no. the words were out. He had to finish. “This is a house for snufkin and me.” which made it sound like they were a couple, once it was out of his mouth. Whelp, can’t take those words back. She was turning green, which wasn’t a good sign and everyone was staring at them in silence. Even the birds outside and the wind had stopped, as if horrified by his words. Everything except for Sniff, who was stuffing his snout with raisin biscuits and was missing the entire thing.

Oh why couldn’t have snufkin had stayed inside? He needed backup. Oh she was turning red now, this was bad. “I mean, you’re a good friend-” oh this was getting worse. “But I promised him-”

“For you and him?!” she wailed, bursting into tears. “For you and HIM?!”

“Well-” he wanted to melt into the floor, to be suddenly set on fire. Anything but explaining this.

“OF course it’s snufkin, it’s always him, you’re always talking about snufkin this and snufkin that!!” she burst into tears and ran out of the house, past a very confused snufkin. (who had only heard bits and pieces of the conflict from the porch, but gotten the gist of it.)

“Ha! I was wondering when you were going to throw her out.” Little my said from the bowl she was sitting in, waving a spoon like a sword. “Gotta pull the bandaid off quick and get it over with.”

“I will go talk to her later.” moominmamma kissed moomin’s head. “You did the right thing.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it.” he muttered. But there was the tinkle of off-tune music from the porch. Snufkin was playing music again! Everything would be okay.


	2. things come together, things fall apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the love folks! I have a couple more chapters in the can and being polished up, I hope this part isn't too slow.

Moomin yelped himself awake, falling out of bed in a tangle of blankets. He’d had that dream again, where he found snufkin in the snow. Pale, beautiful, eyelashes resting on his cheeks, frosted in white- dead.

It was still dark out, so early the birds were still asleep. It might be childish, but- he crept out to snufkin’s yellow tent. 

“Snuf? Snufkin?” he poked his snout inside. His friend was asleep, his breathing slow and even. It might be- a bit rude to just come in uninvited. But- he slipped in, curling up beside him. Snufkin rolled over to make room, still asleep, before leaning into moomin’s warmth. As if they had always done this.   
Lulled by his steady breathing, moomin fell quickly into more pleasant dreaming.

Amazingly, snufkin said nothing about his midnight change in sleeping arrangements. In fact, he seemed to be in a better mood than the day before, even singing on their way to the building site. He hadn’t sang since he left moominvalley last fall.

Snorkmaiden appeared the next morning to join them, looking sheepish and blue, with a tray of apology sweet rolls in paw. He told her she was still his friend and invited her along to help build, and maybe she could advise them on decorating when they were further along. The sweet rolls were enjoyed by all.  
Pappa had gotten a good bit set up and built over the last few days, getting the children out of the way improved productivity. (he was calling it a chateau, building it in the style of the small country cottages he’d seen on his travels.) and happily they followed him up the hill. This would be the part they could help more on, handing wood up to him to get the roof covered and putting up wood on the sides-

The house, the frame and base were completely gone. 

Well, not gone. The lumber had been taken apart, pegs removed and everything set in neat piles. the foundation stones were still in place, being they had been cemented together already and harder to take apart. 

“Oh moomin! Your house!” snorkmaiden cried.

“Interesting.” pappa contemplated as he examined the lumber. “Someone does not want us to build here.”

Moomin’s ears drooped. All that work. “And it was such a nice spot.”

“We could try closer to the beach?” snufkin suggested, “we could build over the ocean so we can fish from the porch-”

“We shall rebuild!” papa declared, drowning him out. “And we shall catch the villain in the act with an all night stake-out!”

“Steak?” sniff said hopefully, still licking frosting off his whiskers.

“Papa…” moomin tried helplessly, looking at snufkin for backup. He simply shrugged.

“We can try, at least the wood is already measured and cut. If it happens again, we move the house.”

“That’s so smart snufkin!” snorkmaiden cooed, hugging his arm. He stiffened and looked at her in mild alarm. “You’re always so smart.”

Everyone stared at them for a moment before snufkin pulled his arm away. “Ah…”

“We should get started!” moomin pushed his way in between them before this got any weirder. “Before it gets too hot!”

 

As snufkin had said, the wood was notched and ready for pegs, so it was a matter of putting things back together. With everyone working together, they managed to get the frame up before lunch, and some of the roof covered with base. Felt would have to go down before the wood shingles, pappa explained, then they could put up the interior walls and sides. Pappa was going on about the sides, something about split shingle versus shiplap. 

“What color do you want the bedroom painted?” his friend closed his eyes as he held the beam in place, the way he did when he was trying to think of a poetic way to put things.

“Green, the light green of spring and new leaves. With white birch trees painted in the corners. So it is like waking up in the woods, even when it’s dreary out.” his eyes glittered like he had a fever again, his hair wet with sweat. 

“That sounds nice.” moomin agreed. Would it be much to tell him to go take a break? He’d may have been a little overprotective lately… (after all, if you found your friend nearly dead once, one may be concerned it would happen again much too soon.) then again- he secured the beam for him, shook it to make sure it wasn’t going to move and took his friend by the wrist down to the stream. “I’m hot and thirsty.” he announced, so there was the excuse that it was him that needed the break, not snufkin. He looked at moomin gratefully, plopping on the stream bank with a groan. Moomin had no dignity, jumping into the water and wallowing in until he was soaked thoroughly. The sun was bright today, and there was an edge to the wind that promised thunderstorms later. 

Snufkin was in his shirt sleeves again, and he kicked off his boots, like the movement was too much effort. He didn’t want to ask him if he was okay, he’d only smile and say he was fine. 

“Snufkin?” he asked softly. No answer. “Snufkin?” he splashed some cold stream water on his foot and he jumped in surprise.

“Ah?”

“Are you okay?” shoot, he asked it again. “I was calling for you.”

“I was far away.” he said, before scooting into the water to join him. He drank out of his cupped hands before splashing water over his face and head. “Better.”

“You could go home to rest. If you feel like it.” he played with his wet tail, avoiding looking at him. Snufkin’s soaked shirt clung to him and he was still much too thin compared to last summer. 

“It feels pretty good here by the stream. It’s in the shade, I think I’ll take a break here for a while.”

“I’m…” and he burst, “I’m sorry about snorkmaiden!”

“Its… well it is what it is, isn’t it?” he shook his hair and climbed back onto the grass. “There’s not many other folk her age around here, but you, sniff and her brother.”

“It really is our house.” he flopped out of the stream onto the grass. Snufkin moved to use him as a pillow. 

“I know. I trust you.” he yawned, then his breathing evened out. There wasn’t much for it, cool grass, a shady spot after a morning of hard work- moomin relaxed and dozed off with him. 

“Mama?” moomin peered around the edge of the kitchen door. Pappa had taken the snork and little my to watch over the cottage (chateau, right.) along with his ancient shotgun to catch the saboteur in the act. Snufkin was tinkering with the battered guitar on the porch, leaving moomin and mama alone. This was the time to ask. 

“Yes, sweetie?” she wiped her paws off on a towel before smoothing out her apron. “What’s on your mind?”

“Is it possible someone can lose their hearing after being sick?” he’d read a book once where a girl went blind after a high fever. Would it be that far of a stretch for someone’s hearing to go the same way?

“Snufkin?” he nodded. “Has he said anything?”

“No. it’s just… I don’t know. Hard to get his attention if he’s not looking at me.” 

“It is possible. For now, let him be. I know you worry about him sweetie.” he felt better as she hugged him. She always knew best. 

 

“So by the time I had to leave, there were massive trees and vines growing all over where there only had been flat lawns, the children had grown feral and made their own tribes. Luckily there wa so much chaos, I could slip out before anyone could think of arresting me.” (once again, the narrator would like to point out. This happened much too often for anyone, especially the hemulen police’s peace of mind.)

Everyone watched snufkin with wide eyes as he finished the tale. This was night two of the stake-out, and by twenty minutes in everyone was bored silly by sitting in the mid-summer twilight.

“Woooow” they said in appreciation.

“And that’s why homeowners associations are evil.” he nodded, proud of the chaos he had caused. 

“That sounds illegal.” the snork frowned. 

“Of course it’s illegal, that’s why I did it-”

“Shhh, turn down the lantern! I hear something!” moomin had seen something rustle in the bushes. Everyone ducked down, the lantern turned to a bare glow. The rustle continued moving towards the bare-boned cottage-

“Stinky.” snufkin growled, having the best night sight of any of them. “I am NOT putting that roof back on because of that fuzzball-”

Stinky, who thought this was going to be one of the best pranks he’s ever pull, had a mild heart attack as he was ambushed from seemingly nowhere. Hung upside down from one leg, he was face to face with a very angry snufkin. 

“I’m sooooorrrry” he wailed, hoping that today was not the day snufkin decided to sew him into a bag and throw him into the river. 

Luckily for him, he just ended up being tied upside down to a tree, with a promise (threat) of further violence if he ever touched their cottage again. He promised himself to stay very far away from snufkin and moomin… at least for a the next month or two. (good thing moominpapa overnapped and did not bring a shotgun to the stakeout or it might have had a very different ending. But alas, this story is rated G for general audiences.)


	3. storm warnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which danger occurs.

Now, it would be too much to ask for one summer without Something Happening. The cottage was coming along, snorkmaiden had resigned herself to not having little moominbabies, and no one had been shot for any pranks. 

It would be midsummer’s eve in a week or two, the days long with barely any night to them. It was a hot and lazy time of the summer, the birds too drowsy to sing. The bare bones of the cottage had been covered in wood, the roof shingled and water-tight. 

Snufkin was getting antsy. 

The living together in a house thing was becoming real. It seemed like a nice idea, a place, a home. But now that the house was there there was a decision to be made and he wasn’t ready yet. 

Stay or go? It was easier to go, always to leave the bad decisions behind rather than face the fallout, easier to leave the discomfort behind. No obligations to anyone but himself, and even then he wasn’t responsible with that too often. But here he was, with… responsibilities. Ownership. Ties to someone and someplace, things he’d avoided as much as possible. 

It’d been building up since the house (chateau,) started to look like a house. 

“Are you going out, snufkin?” moomin was giving him that worried look, the one that made him feel bad for making him look like that. 

“Just for a little while. I’ll be back by supper.” he clipped a canteen to his belt. “I want to see if those hickory trees are still up on the other side of the valley, maybe get some for us.” it was as good of an excuse to go wander as much as anything. Normally he’d come and go all summer, but he hadn’t gone far this year at all. If… if he was going to travel this winter, he needed to get his strength back. He needed some time to think. 

“Momma’s making pastries, so don’t be late.” he warned. “Sniff and Little My will eat them all.” 

 

The weather was good as he started, very clear and hot. He followed the river into the woods, grateful for the dappled shade, starting to feel a bit more like himself. Space to breathe, all by himself. He had his lunch sitting on a stump, half-wishing he had brought the guitar with him. It was much too quiet.   
The problem with the hot weather is that it can brew storms very quickly. Under the tree cover, he missed the growing clouds, missed the thunder as it followed from up the river. He was too busy with thinking about music, a summer song for hot weather as he looked for hickory trees. He’d try it out on the guitar when he got back.

It was nearly on top of him when he finally noticed, the electricity tingling his skin, feeling rather than hearing the thunder. it was this moment when he realized he could not /hear/ the thunder or the wind rocking the branches.

He was not prone to panic. Panic got a lone traveler killed. So he shoved it down and picked his way back down to the river path as the wind picked up and the rain started. 

He was drenched to the skin in moments, hard enough to sting the skin. Enough to make him gasp, the panic wanting to bubble up again. The river was fuller than it had been in the morning, the rain from up river causing it to swell over its banks, a torrent rather than its normal gentle burble. The bank under his feet was unstable, loosening, he needed to get to higher ground- a tree loosened and fell into the water, taking a wide swatch of earth and snufkin into the river. For a moment, he was suspended in air-

The water was incredibly cold, taking away his breath. He fought to the surface, fought against the tangle of debris battering him. Air, he needed air-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be put up tomorrow!


	4. Flashfloods

The same storm hit the house with a fierceness that made the frame creak. Everyone came running inside as the stinging rain hit.

“This storm reminds me of one from my youth-” moominpapa mused, shaking the water off of his hat. Mama made a face, passing out towels for everyone to dry off with. 

“Papa, you’re getting water all over the floor.”

“Sorry my dearest.” he propped the hat over the stove to dry before wandering off to find the mop. 

“Momma, snufkin is out there.” moomin said from under the towel as she roughly dried his fur. She frowned, understanding his worry.

“The storm came up fast, it won’t last long.” her frown deepened, looking out the window as the wind rattled the shutters. Papa returned with the mop, mildly threatening Sniff with it before he could shake water all over the floor. “Papa, Snufkin is out in the forest.”

He muttered something that sounded like a curse, dropping the mop and heading to the door. the wind picked and grabbed it out of his paws. He cursed again, pulling it shut with some effort. “Once it dies down, we’ll go out. As long as he stays away from the river, he’ll be fine.”

Snorkmaiden patted moomin’s arm and shoulder. “He’s used to this sort of thing.”

Yes, moomin thought. But his friend wasn’t himself, wasn’t prepared.

His fur was going to fall out at this rate. He resigned himself to sitting morosely in the corner, mug of tea in hand.

 

His head broke the surface and he gasped before the water pulled him back under. Twisting, he flailed in the water to find something, anything to hold onto. He was knocked around, trees and debris washed into the flash flood making it all the harder to hold his breath. a long, panicked moment, another before he grabbed something solid he could pull on and bring himself to the surface. It was agony to pull himself up and he nearly slipped back into the torrent, once, twice, before he got out onto the solid bank. 

He coughed out a lungfull of dirty water, before taking in an account of himself. His hat was gone (shoot,) he was missing a boot. Something warm was trickling down his face and his hand came away red. At least he wasn’t concussed...well, maybe a little. He was dizzy. His side hurt, a sharp pain that made it all the harder to take in a deep breath. 

He couldn’t hear the water in the river. 

He could see it, looking over his shoulder as he scrambled for higher ground. It should be loud, he should hear the thunder, the rain as it came down. His skin prickled as lightning hit a tree not that far away from him. 

Silence. 

He started to shake, shock he told himself. It was a close one. But there wasn’t that exhilaration of survival, just numbness-

He pressed his thumb into his side, letting the pain of a broken rib clear his head. He couldn’t fall apart now, that was for when he was safe in front of a stove. 

He kicked off the lone boot he had left, wiped the blood from his face. He needed to get to higher ground quickly, or he’d be back in the water in no time.

 

When the rain slackened, snufkin picked his way through the forest. The rush of adrenalin from his near-drowning hadn’t lasted long, and the dizziness from the concussion was making it hard to walk in a straight line. But he kept on in the rain, over the bridge that was, thankfully, still in one piece despite the swollen water under it. The relief of seeing the house with all the lights on was so heavy on him, his knees nearly gave out. 

Home.

The house was warm and steamy, full of worried people and food smells. He barely made it in the doorway before he was practically tackled to the floor by moomin.

“I was so worried!!” he whimpered, eyes welling up with tears of relief.

“Ow.” his sore ribs were under the troll’s bulk. Moomin was gently pushed aside by his mother, and he found himself wrapped up and toweled off. 

“Off with those wet clothes and into the kitchen.” she ordered. He looked at her, missing her words until she motioned for him to take off his shirt.   
He ended up in his briefs and a blanket in the crowded kitchen. He was finally home and safe.

The shaking finally caught up with him, he blamed the chill from the rain. A glass of pear brandy was pushed into his hands, steadying his nerves as he sipped it. home and safe? After all, isn’t that why he came here in the first place? To be home, to be safe? 

Mama tapped him on the shoulder, motioning for him to raise his head so she could see the cut. It had stopped bleeding a while back, but she still smoothed some paste into it. It wasn’t bad, but he would have a good bruise. Another scar to add to the collection. 

She looked at him, then spoke carefully so he could read her lips. She knew. (of course she did, she was quiet and Noticed Things.)

“The flash flood caught me.” he explained, “a tree fell in and took out the whole path.”

“How awful!” snorkmaiden exclaimed, pushing a heavily buttered piece of bread in his hand. She had apparently forgiven him for ruining her dreams of the perfect little cottage life with moomin, staring at him until he ate. 

He was surprised he had an appetite despite his exhaustion, and once he was re-dressed into clean and dry clothes they settled into dinner. (his shirt was a complete loss.) As mama has said earlier, these storms passed quickly, and it was soon bright and sunny once again. The sodden ground gently steamed in the sun, and snufkin watched it for a moment through the window until-

“Wait, where’s my tent?”

His muddy belongings (of which there were not much) were scattered on the ground around the house, where the tent itself was nowhere to be found. 

Moominpapa’s poor pear trees had limbs ripped off from the wind and half the garden was flattened out by the rain. 

“We found the tent!” the snork and sniff came running up the hill. Moomin nudged snufkin and pointed them out as they repeated themselves. It was, as expected with how had his luck had been this year, in the top of a tree. No boots, now no tent. The decision had been made for him.

“Well, it can’t be helped moomintroll. It looks like I’ll be spending the winter here.”

“Really?! I mean, oh, okay.” his paw found snufkin’s hand and squeezed it. “Can we talk somewhere?”

“Yeah. I suppose we need to.” he ran his free hand through his damp hair, the ends sticking up all over. “The cottage?”

They walked in silence. Their cottage was sturdily built, not a shingle out of place. They settled on the half-built porch, side by side. 

“Moomin-” he started. 

“Your hearing’s going.” he finished. 

“I can hear-” he motioned around his ears. “Bits. some loud things. Its muffled.” he slumped. “I didn’t hear the wind picking up or the thunder. But you already noticed…”

“I wasn’t sure.”

“Guess I’m better at lipreading then I thought, huh? I didn’t notice it was going.” he flopped onto his back. “You know I’m going to be miserable to spend a whole winter with.”

They missed the shushing from around the corner as certain girls jockeyed for position. 

“I spent half of one with you already. I think it’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry I’m so useless right now.” he was startled when moomin suddenly hugged him around the waist, burying his face in his chest.

“You’re not! Not at all!”

“Are they going to kiss or what?” griped Little My.

“Shhh, I’m trying to watch.” snorkmaiden pushed her down.

“Don’t tell me they’ve been walking around like lovebirds all this time and haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Shhh!”

 

Snufkin tapped the top of moomin’s head, then tapped his ear. 

“I said- we’re being watched.” he turned to the corner, catching them slipping back around the side of the house. He sighed. “Snufkin, do you want to spend tonight in our house?”

“A night, alone in the dark woods, in a half-built house?”

“I wouldn’t be alone, we’d be together!”

“Alright then.” he said with a soft smile. “First night.”

 

And that, dear readers, is were we’ll leave you. Until next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and that's it for this one guys, thanks for reading and all the lovely comments! it was hard to get started, but I think I did alright. the next part is started, I just need.. well a plotline. plots are hard!  
> anything else you guys want to read? let me know!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having the worst time writing this, but I hope you all like it! there's some surprises in store for you, I hope you all pick up the hints!  
> please let me know how you like it and I'll keep plugging away at it!


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